Slava Epstein

A newly discovered soil bacterium, Eleftheria terrae, is able to make teixobactin, a new antibiotic that can kill a range of disease-causing bacteria.

Scientists discover a potent new antibiotic

Medicine

Antibiotics, among the most extraordinary drugs of the last hundred years, mostly come from a very ordinary source: dirt. But that source has been slowly exhausted, since 99 percent of the microbes in dirt can’t be cultured in a lab. Now, a group of scientists has developed a new technique for cultivating bacteria on their home turf, so to speak: right in the dirt, where they grow best. The results are a game-changer.